Richo Eng

I have a 2010 R/T AWD - about 60000 km. Travelling in Michigan this summer with small tent trailer. One morning, go to start, click click...no starter at all but radio worked. Jump started, took to dealer. Flash update on computer for battery issue, they said I should be ok - just reprogramming and charged battery. Went back to campsite. Next morning,no start. Now I'm upset. Back to dealer, performed an old fashion load test, battery no good. Replaced battery. Called and wrote to Chrysler indicating they knew they had a problem, that's why there was a flash update. No reimbursement. Fed up with defects. Multiple brake jobs, carbon fouling of cylinder heads, AWD seal leaks,replaced thermostat twice. Nice car to drive but...have 70 000 km now. Brakes going again...it will have to shake for a while before I replace rotors again, now its out of extended brake warranty.

Hi Tammy

After they did a valve job on my car and cleanmed out the carbon and did the computer module reprogramming the engine has been fine. I have about 80 000 km on it now. You need a good honest mechanic to determine if its the carboning up of the valves, as its a very expensive fix.

Hope they get it solved for you.

My latest issue was a dead battery when I was travelling in the US. Fine one day, next day would not start - no warning. Fun was I was hauling a tent trailer. Lucky there was a battery on the tent trailer and I could jump start the car and drive to a dealer. Chrysler dealer admitted there was a flash update related to the battery, but mine was already dead at about 70 000 km. No warranty - Chrysler Canada Customer care said a wear and tear item. I wrote and outlined the problem, that there was a flash upgrade for that, but they would not admit fault. Disappointing when you loose a day and a half of your holidays.

I had this issue with my 2010 Journey RT last year. Carbon build up on the valves. They pulled both cylinder heads and had to do a valve job. No wear on the valves but the heads were carboned up. After this, the car has been running fine for a year. I was always using good mid grade gas, so it had nothing to do with the fuel I was using. The dealer said they had a couple vehicles like that. Once they saw one car with this issue, they recognised it on mine. Misfir on cylinder 5 was how they picked it up on the computer codes. If you have a carbon build up issue, pouring liquid cleaning solution into the gas tank and other half measures won't work. I too had a slight shudder going into 6th gear as I let my foot off gas. Mine was delivered in December 2009, so the new programming likely prevented this on newer models.

I have a 2010 R/T AWD. Put on aftermarket 17" rims with Michellin Lattitude Alpin snow tires and the car handles terrific in the snow. Been through 2 winters. Much better than my Intrepid or SX2, or any other car before that. Try letting your wife drive the Journey and then take it away on a snowy day and let her drive the SX2 and you're in trouble! Wife loves it and feels very secure with the Journey. If you plan on keeping the vehicle and live in areas with lots of snow, invest in the rims and snow tires. Makes it easy to change over with the season. You are going to use rubber anyway.

We had the same misfire code in cylinder 5. Noticed slight hesitation just about 2 km from home when engine cold and when car goes into 6th gear at low rpm's. Carbon buildup on the valves,just around 27 000 km. Second Journey at our dealership to have this and sounds like caused by a PCM problem. We have a 2010 journey RT bought last December. They pulled heads and mechanic confirmed the heads were carboned up fairly bad. 13 hours of work, but covered under warranty. We were always using mid grade gas and reputable gas companies. Soaking the combustion chamber may be a temporary fix and this is what mechanic told me. Have been taking my cars to this dealer for years and service manager really good, so they knew this was problem as exactly same problem as another Journey and that's what they found when they pulled heads. Keep you eyes on it. Our car runs like new now.

We had the same issue with ours. Car would start to shudder violently at 40-60 mph for 2-3 minutes and then it would quit. Dodge checked the tires and steering. Of course they found nothing. Then it eventually threw a code during one episode. Of course the PCM didn't store the code so again they could do nothing. Yesterday it did it for me for the first time. 3 miles from home it starts to shake and then the CEL comes on (flashed 12 times). Took it straight to Dodge and they were finally able to pull a code. Cylinder #5 misfire. I'm guessing it has a bad ignition coil. Should find out tomorrow. Hope this helps.

We have had brake problems to but dealer has been great. Somewhere around 20 000km had the rear rotors replaced as one caliper got hung up and got hot. Calipers replaced and the issue I heard was the brake sliders were not properly lubricated at the factory and I think they are adding a stainless steel shim or sleeve and greasing up this part. I had a slight warp in front rotors and they replaced at around 25 000 km. I paid them to put on ceramic aftermarket front pads, and brakes have been fine for now. I am at 29 000 km. I was told bake brake design similar to Caravan. Was told the back brakes may need more frequent servicing - not happy about that but I will have them look at them again in the Spring. Maybe its a matter of lubricating the sliding parts. Performance wise, the brakes perform very well. Other than that we really enjoy driving the Journey. We loaded it up and towed a trailer and had the mopar cargo carrier on and went out to Newfoundland from Ontario. Vehicle is a pleasure to drive on a long trip.

First off, sorry to hear about your brake problems. Second, I hope you saved all your receipts. If ANYTHING goes wrong with your car during its first year or 20,000kms(canada), the repair is fully warrantied. right down to light bulbs, fuses, radio knobs and wiper blades. I would talk to the service manager at your dealership about getting refunded. If he doesn't budge ask for the dealership's owner and explain the situation. Take names and notes of whats said. If he/she isn't helpful then call the corporate customer service line (1-800-465-2001 Canada and US) and explain that your paying out of pocket for warranty work. Don't take any guff from the dealership. They are there to make a buck but they are also frontline reps for chrysler/dodge and unfortunately some are crooks.

Wait until you try it in the snow and you put on 4 snow tires. Handles real well and goes up steep driveways and hills extremely well. Best car we ever had in the snow. This will be our second winter. We have a 2010 R/T and now have 29 000 km on it. If you let your wife drive it, you'll never get it back!

So, my 3 day old Journey got its first test today. I have the SXT AWD Journey and had a 80 mile trip this morning before dawn. At times, I was driving on the interstate in driving rain. My Journey stayed true the entire trip, I never felt even the slightest slip in handling. Its nice to ve in a vehicle that feels so driveable in sub-par weather conditions. I've driven 4WD SUVs that felt no where near as steady and sure-footed in the rain.

In short, the AWD works fantastically.

John

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Interesting. I had 380 000 km on my Intrepid automatic transmission and if you do the fluid and filter change at the 80 000 km intervals, they last. Just bought a Journey and hope I have the same luck. PS, gave the Intrepid to my brother and its still running.

Actually, most car manufacturers rate their transmissions at around the 100,000 mark. Thats why most warranties are good for 100K on powertrain.

Had the same problem with our 2010 R/T. Caliper was getting stuck on left rear. Apparently dealer said they were having issues with these and appears that they added some stainless shim plate and some grease where the cast iron brake parts slide on each other. They replaced rotors and brakes are fine now. I believe they recommended more frequent rear brake service to make sure the sliding components stay free. Check with your dealer.

If you don't have any warning light on in the dash you probably have a gripped caliper ( brake cylinder stuck ) you get a warning light If it's a failure of the stability system. Get this verified/repaired or the wheel bearing is the next think to go.

We have a 2010 Journey R/T AWD. Just had some misfire at 27 000 km and an engine light came on. Dealer had this with another vehicle and it was carboned up valves. They also had to pull the cylinder heads on our car and clean and lap all the valves. Big job. Spoke with mechanic and it took him 13 hours. Warranty. Runs beautifully now. Apparently a PCM programming problem for some early Journeys may be the problem. No other engine issues.

Has anyone had work on the 3.5 liter V6 engine in their Journey and been happy with the repairs?

We have about 27 000 km on our Journey and we had some misfire going into 6th gear. Apparently also another Journey had this problem at the dealer. Carbon fouling of the engine. Seems like there is a PCM flash update that should take care of this if you get it done early enough. Too late for us, they pulled the heads and had to clean all the valves. Mechanic said not as bad as the other one he did. He said you have to take the whole manifold off to get the plugs out. Not sure how big a job that is. Was a bit upset that they had to do this with my car, but car runs great now. I sure hope the flash upgrade stops this from happening again. Manager said it has happened on some Chargers as well. Engines are solid but the programming is what changes. Suggest you check if you have all latest flash upgrades. I do some work on my SX2.0 but this thing, I think I will leave it for the dealer.

Hi I got a 2010 journey sxt in sept and was thinking about putting E3 plugs in it , has any one else done this and how hard is it to take the intake off to get to the back 3 plugs. Thanks

Hello there. We have an R/T as well and drove this summer from Ontario out to Newfoundland, from Port aux Basque to Argentia. Pulled a small tent trailer and had the Mopar cargo carrier. Great trip, beautiful island! Car was smooth all the way. Have had a few glitches but dealer has been good. You'll love the AWD in the winter. Went with some aftermarket 17" rims (alum) and some Michellin snow tires. Best winter vehicle we ever had.

I pick my AWD R/t up in the morning....I'm going from a 2007 Nitro to the 2010 Journey......hope it serves me well....cheers all.